Wu Tang Clan - Legendary Weapons

New album from RZA, Ghostface Killa et al - or disappointingly not, as the case may be

(E1)

Were this legendary NYC rap crew’s identity not fragmented enough between their myriad solo albums and side-projects, there’s now apparently no such thing as a full Wu Tang Clan album anymore either.Legendary Weapons is the first ‘official’ Wu LP since 2007’s Eight Diagrams, and it bears many of their hallmarks – raps that cut like throwing stars and kung-fu movie samples galore (plus one from The Wire, in which Method Man starred). But only RZA and Ghostface Killa contribute broadly, with the other core members (save for GZA, who’s seemingly absent altogether) appearing as if guests.

It adds to a general feeling of half-arsedness that lightweight production does little to contradict. Name-checking Charlie Sheen and rhyming about ‘pissing out tiger blood’ on ‘Meteor Hammer’ is the sort of thing that will date about as well as a tattoo for an ex-girlfriend.